Family
by NCISlover4142
Summary: So Cote is leaving. Here is a story of how I think her "appropriate closure" should play out, and how each member of the team will react. Multi chapter. It will make you laugh, and make you cry. Enjoy.
1. Chapter 1

Family. The ones you love more than anything or anyone in the world. The ones you will do anything for. And family isn't always about DNA, either. You find a special group of people, and they become your family.

NCIS became Ziva Davids family. Yes, she had had family back in Israel. But they were all gone now. DC became her home, and NCIS her family. That's why she quit. She turned in her badge, along with Tony and McGee, so they could protect their father, Gibbs from Parsons. Man they hated him.

They knew Gibbs was headed into a dangerous mission now. And they sure as hell knew that they weren't going to sit by and do nothing. Even though they were resigned, they kept tabs on Gibbs secretly, with Vance's help. They weren't allowed to know the specifics, but they knew he was targeting someone with a high profile.

They tried their best live their lives and be happy, but they were worried for Gibbs. And they missed NCIS.

Then one day in September, Vance called the three of them into his office.

"I need your help. Since you have more information on the mission than any one else, you need to be temporarily reinstated. You need to provide Gibbs and his people backup when they complete the mission" Vance said.

"Its going to be dangerous. We are expecting a lot of conflict. But you need to understand. Gibbs MUST get his target, or many lives will be at risk"

"I trust you three more than any other agents. I'm confident you will do what it takes. Are you guys in?"

"Anything for Gibbs" they said in unison.

"Alright, its settled then. Welcome back, Agents DiNozzo, David, and McGee!" Vance replied.

"Its good to be back" DiNozzo said.

"Ok, the mission will be completed on September 24th, a week from today. You need to provide Gibbs and his team with backup at a warehouse, location classified. You will be briefed when you report here that day. Until then, goodbye and thank you" Vance stated.

"Goodbye, Director" Ziva said.

Tony couldn't help but notice the sinking feeling he got in his gut, he just had a bad feeling about this whole thing.


	2. Chapter 2

The following week passed way faster than anyone of them would have liked. They were nervous for the dangers that lied ahead, but also excited to get their jobs back to normal afterwards. Before they knew it, they found themselves in Director Vances office on the 24th. They were surprised to see members of the JSOC in there as well.

"Good to see you folks again. Gibbs will get his target when he is arriving at a nearby FBI safehouse." Vance said, business as usual. "Gibbs will be in a warehouse across the street. You need to secure the perimeter for him. Tony and Ziva, you will be with Wayne. McGee, you will be with those 2. Good luck, I'll see you when you get back."

They got to the warehouse and split up. Tony and Ziva to the east, McGee to the west. Suddenly Gibbs appeared by Tony and Ziva.

"Hey you two. Been a while" he said, with a trace of a smile on his face.

"Missed you too, boss." Tony said.

"Gibbs it is great to see you" said Ziva.

"Well I got a job to do, see you in a bit" he said, continuing on his way up the stairs.

Tony and Ziva were left to themselves, watching the entrance to the warehouse. They were there for a while, and nothing was going on.

"How much longer do you think we are going to be here, Tony?" Ziva asked.

"Until we hear a gunshot and hear good ole Gibbs come down those stairs." Tony replied.

"Do you think things will be normal after this? You know, with Gibbs back and our jobs. We are going to have to tell them about us, you know." Ziva said.

"Yeah, it will be normal again. And I look forward to telling them about us." Tony said, smiling.

"I hope Gibbs approves." Ziva said, with a hint of doubt in her voice.

"Oh he will, just count on a lot of head slaps in the future." Tony said, drawing laughter from both Ziva and Wayne.

Suddenly 5 men came storming into the warehouse. Wayne was hit in the stomach right away and went down. Gibbs heard the shots and appeared out of nowhere, trying to save Wayne. But Wayne just said, "Do it" and off Gibbs went, looking terrified yet focused.

Meanwhile Ziva got 2 shots off and hit 2 of the men, Tony got 2 more. The last man evaded Tony's shot, and fired right back at him, aiming for the heart. Ziva's love and instinct took over, yelling, "TONY!" and diving in front of him. Ziva took the hit and fell quickly to the ground. Tony turned and fired and hit the man in between the eyes. Tony distantly heard the sound of a snipers gun. But all he was really focused on was Ziva, lying with blood gushing out of a wound in her chest.

"Ziva. No no no. Ziva" Tony cried.

"Tony it is ok."  
Then, like found the words she had tried to say so many times before  
"Tony I... love you." She gasped.

"I love you too, Ziva." Tony replied, voice full of emotion.

The deep brown eyes found the sparkling green, then something in the depths of the brown eyes vanished. And Tony DiNozzo cried, more than he ever had in his whole life.

Tony has no idea how long he sat there crying and holding Ziva. It felt like seconds and years at the same time. Then he felt a presence behind him. He turned and found Gibbs standing there, rifle in hand. The look on his face was one of pure anguish. Tony would never forget it as long as he lived.

Gibbs came and kissed Ziva gently on the cheek, tears slipping down his face. He patted Tony on the back, not finding the right words to say.

"Boss, I loved her" Tony said.

"I know Tony, I know" Gibbs replied with a heavy heart. "I'll go call Ducky, you call McGee."

Both men wordlessly reaches for their phones, knowing the devastation their words would bring.


	3. Chapter 3

With a heavy heart Tony grabbed his phone and dialed McGee's number.

"McGee" Tim said.

"Tim, you gotta get over to this side now, its over" Tony said. McGee knew something was up because he never called him Tim.

"Ok, Tony what's wrong?"

Tony couldn't bring himself to say it. "You'll find out"

Meanwhile, Gibbs had to call Ducky. Gibbs had made and received a lot of tough phone calls in his time, but he knew this would be the toughest.

"Doctor Mallard speaking"

"Duck..." Gibbs said.

Ducky knew what had happened the second he heard his tone of voice. "Who?"

"Ziva" he said, voice cracking. "Get Palmer and come here soon"

"Oh my" Ducky knew how hard this was going to be on the team. He did as told however, and arrived at the crime scene.

When Ducky arrived, he found Gibbs, McGee, Tony, and the rest of the JSOC members just sitting there unsure of what to do. The pain on everyone's faces, especially Tony's, was horrible.  
Then Gibbs realized he still had to call Abby. "Oh man," he thought, "this is going to be rough."

"Abby Scuito!"

"Hey Ab..."

"Gibbs what is wrong?"

"Its Ziva. Abby, she didn't make it"

Abby's grief was instant. She broke down sobbing.

"We will be there soon, Abs."

Ducky carefully placed Ziva into the truck and they all drove back to NCIS together. Tony didn't even bother to hide his tears. He was heartbroken. Gibbs and McGee also both had a steady stream of tears running down their faces. Palmer was too in shock to react, and Ducky was trying to stay strong and calm for the sakes of the team.

They arrived back at NCIS and ducky and palmer took Ziva to autopsy. The other three met Abby in the bullpen. Abby was crying, and immediately went to Gibbs for a big hug, then McGee and Tony. They just sat there in their obvious grief until Tony broke the silence.

"We started dating, you know. Back in May after we quit. We spent the whole summer together. It was amazing, best 4 months of my life. We both wished we would have told each other sooner"

The three people listening exchanged a knowing look, silently agreeing with him and wondering what had taken them so long to finally admit their feelings.

"Anyways, I was going to propose to her after this whole thing was over. I have the ring and everything." He said, with a distant and sad look.

At that Abby started to cry loudly, and Gibbs looked heartbroken. McGee was too stunned to react.

"Oh Tony, I'm so sorry" Abby said, hugging him.

"Its ok, Abs." He said.

"At least you shot the guy who did this" said Abby.

"I know, I wish it would have been me. It should have been me. She died saving me. Why?" Tony asked painfully.

Then Gibbs spoke for the first time in a while. "She loved you, Tony. You would have done the same thing for her."

Tony realized Gibbs was right. He usually was.

"Yeah, I would have. I loved her too. I'll never forget her." Tony said.

At that, the four of them were lost in their own thoughts. They knew it was going to be tough times for a while.


	4. Chapter 4

The four of them stayed in the bullpen all night, grieving with each other and remembering Ziva.

"I'm going to miss her so much. I mean, we've lost Kate and Jenny before. But we've known Ziva for longer than both of them combined. It's going to be so hard." Abby said. "Guys she was just so awesome."

"Yeah she was. I'm going to miss how she would always screw up American sayings" McGee said.

Tony laughed. "Ohhh yeah."

"Are you going under cover as a homo?

"Its like shooting a fish in a pond"

"Ducky, Zip it!

"American idioms drive me up the hall"

Tony said, quoting a few. They all laughed, even Gibbs cracked a slight smile.

"I'm going to miss her eyes. They were so special." Tony said.

"Yeah they were, especially to you, Tony. You guys always had these looks. You could tell there was something between you two." Abby added.

"I'm going to miss her kick ass ninja Mossad assassin strength. She was the toughest and strongest person I knee, well except for Boss maybe. She went through so much in life, yet stayed strong. Sometimes too strong." Tony said.

Everyone silently nodded in agreement to that.

"I'm so sorry you guys. If I didn't act so Parsons came after me, none of this would have happened." Gibbs said, surprising everyone.

"Boss, rule #6. Never say your sorry." Tony said.

"Rule #51, DiNozzo. sometimes you're wrong." Gibbs replied.

"I just can't believe she's gone." Abby said.

They realized they had talked and cried throughout the night, and it was now 2 in the afternoon.

"I'm going to go get coffee, you guys should go home and shower and rest up, come in tomorrow morning and we will talk to Duck and get things planned." Gibbs said.

Tony knew that by things he meant funeral. And Tony knew that if Kate's funeral was hard, Ziva's would be impossible.


	5. Chapter 5

They all arrived at work early the next morning, all armed with extra coffee knowing the tough day ahead.

"I talked to Duck today, he finished the autopsy. He said that her body will be ready for her funeral in two days." Gibbs said. "Also, you can go see her body anytime you are ready too"

"Ok, I guess we have some phone calls to make then" Tony said sadly.

"Yeah, if you're up for it could you be in charge of that? You probably know who should be there the most." Gibbs said to Tony.

"Yeah boss, I'll do it" Tony said.

He spent his morning calling people he knew from Ziva's past, which was a sadly short list. He called her friend Monique that he had met a few years ago. He called Damon Worth, who had beat them up once but had become friends with Ziva. He called Schmeil, that was hard. The poor guy was a huge fan of Ziva's, and Tony liked him too. Then he had to call his father, who took the news surprisingly hard.

He was in a depressed mood after calling people, so he decided to go see her body for the first time. He took a deep breath as he got in the elevator and pushed the button for autopsy. He was thankful when he got down there and found no one around. She still looked beautiful, he thought. It just looked like she was sleeping. He knew nothing could prepare him for her funeral tomorrow, but he already decided he was going to speak.

Then his thoughts were interrupted by the doors opening. It was McGee.

"Oh Tony, I'm sorry I'll come back later" he said.

"Its ok Tim, you can stay" Tony remembered how hard it was for him to go see Kate back when she died, and he knew how hard it was for Tim to come down and see Ziva now.

McGee stood there gazing at her in silence for a while, and then spoke.

"I'm gonna miss you, Ziva" he said quietly.

"I'm gonna miss you too, Ziva. I love you" Tony added.

With that the partners reached a silent mutual agreement to cover her up. The two men hugged, and then proceeded back upstairs. They left NCIS, and went home to prepare for the sadness tomorrow would bring.


	6. Chapter 6

Tony couldn't sleep at all that night. Neither could Gibbs. Or McGee. Or Abby. Or Ducky. They all rose early in the morning, showered and got dressed in black suits, except Abby of course. She wore a black dress.

Ziva was going to be buried at a quiet secluded cemetery with lots of trees and flowers. It was peaceful, and the team all knew Ziva would like it. The team arrived, and found quite a few people there. Orli, Malachi, and Liat, along with other Mossad officers. Zivas friend Schmeil. Adam. Tony's heart clenched at the sight of Adam, but knew that Ziva would have wanted him here. Fornell and his team. DiNozzo Sr and Jackson Gibbs.

The funeral progressed how all funerals do. Abby was crying openly, the rest of the team stayed strong. Tony barely even noticed anything going on he was so depressed. Before he knew it, it was his time to speak and deliver her eulogy.

"We are gathered here today to remember a beautiful women. Ziva was the most amazing person I have ever met. Its crazy how close we got, looking at how we met. She was my crazy Israeli, my best friend. There isn't anyone else in the entire world that I'd rather have to be my partner. I'll always remember how she would screw up American idioms, and the way her eyes would speak a million words per minute. Ziva David was truly amazing, and she will be forever missed." Tony said. It took all his strength not to break down in front of everyone.

They then all went to the casket to say their last goodbyes, and then it was over. Ziva was truly gone.

Tony approached Orli after the funeral. He had mentioned something to Ziva in the car about her, and he decided now was the time to do it.

"Hey." He spoke.

"Hello, Agent Dinozzo. I'm so sorry for your loss" said Roll.

"And am I. Listen, I just wanted to thank you." He said.

"What could you possibly want to thank me for?" She asked, surprised.

"Without you, I never would have met Ziva and got to spend 8 great years of my life with her. For that, I thank you." He said with great emotion.

"I just wish you could have spent many more" she said, looking sad.

"Me too" Tony said. With that, he walked away and met up the rest of the team.

As they left the funeral that day, they knew things would never be the same. But they would get through it, because they were a family.

* * *

I know it was sad, but thanks for reading!


End file.
